Aaron Davey to make VFL debut with Tigers

Brent Diamond

Former Melbourne livewire Aaron Davey will finally make his debut for Richmond’s VFL team when it takes on the Northern Blues in a crunch match at Punt Road Oval on Saturday.

Davey retired from the Demons at the end of last season after 178 AFL games. After becoming one of the Tigers' big-name recruits for their inaugural season in the VFL, he had a knee injury during the pre-season and three weeks ago had a run with Northern Football League team West Preston-Lakeside to gain match fitness before his first run with the Tigers.

He joins former AFL-listed players Andrew McQualter, Nathan Batsanis, Ryan Bathie and Ross Young as key mentors to the young, developing Tigers, who are in 11th position with three wins and a draw.

The Blues, who are in 10th spot, won’t have Chris Judd this week, but coach Luke Webster is hopeful that the Blues veteran may have provided a spark for their season after last week’s impressive win over Sandringham.

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Jeff Garlett returns to the Northern Blues forward line to add some firepower.

‘‘There’s so many sides that are sort of stockpiled up on the same points, so all it takes is to get yourself going, get a couple of wins under your belt and you (will) find yourself in the eight again,’’ Webster said.

‘‘We will take some really good confidence away from that and hopefully set up our season from there.’’

Webster said he has been impressed with the form of Blues midfielder Jaryd Cachia in recent weeks.

‘‘Jaryd’s been banging the door down for the last three or four weeks. He’s been finding a lot of his own footy but also doing a really good stoppage role for us and going to their best stoppage player. He’s been playing really good footy,’’ he said.

Ciaran Sheehan has also improved in defence, according to Webster.

‘‘(He’s) a young Irish kid who hasn’t played a lot of footy (and) is defending really well and starting to find a bit of footy himself,’’ he said.

While Port Melbourne, Box Hill and Williamstown are the clear front-runners for this year’s VFL flag, there is a ‘‘stockpile’’ of clubs – as Webster puts it – lining up for a spot in the top four including Werribee, which has gained plenty under new coach John Lamont this season.

Lamont, formerly a development coach at North Melbourne, said he has adjusted well to the VFL coaching ranks.

‘‘I’ve been sitting in the box for the last five years in the VFL so I’ve got a reasonable handle on the competition and I was able to hit the ground running a bit, so that’s made it a little bit easier,’’ Lamont said.

While Werribee didn’t get the points against Williamstown last week, it showed that it can compete against the best. After participating in three failed preliminary finals in recent seasons – against Williamstown, Box Hill and Geelong – the Tigers appear to be more of a flag threat under Lamont given his philosophy and his ability to demand the players to ‘‘drive each other to get the job done’’.

‘‘We’re pleased with our start: nine points, 13 points and 24 points have been about the (margins for the) three losses. We’re competitive in games, that’s something that we talk about a fair bit, to give yourself a chance by bringing a good attitude and effort,’’ he said.

Box Hill coach Marco Bello said Saturday’s clash against Williamstown was a massive one for his team to remain in the top four.

‘‘We’re keeping ourselves in games, which is good, and now we just need to learn how to win and learn how to finish off these games. This one’s going to be a big test because Willy are certainly playing good footy,’’ Bello said.

Frankston should get its first win on the board against Bendigo, the only other winless team, when the teams meet at Frankston Oval on Sunday.

Despite several honourable losses, the Dolphins have only a draw from eight attempts in a season in which they were expected to challenge for finals under coach Simon Goosey.